KOLKATA: Getting convicted does not necessarily mean the end of life. A convict can get himself educated even while serving his term. They can be reformed through education. Apparently, such dialogues often sound hollow. But now the authorities of Kolkata- based Presidency Reformatory Home have taken up an initiative to fructify such noble ideas.
Daily classes will begin within the jail campus. Lessons will be given at all levels starting from primary to post-graduation. A total of six teachers have been selected for this purpose. Out of the six teachers, three of them are inmates of the same reformatory home. These three inmates were once teachers but later convicted for some reason or the other.
When contacted, the State Minister incharge of the prisons department, Ujjal Biswas confirmed the initiative. "The request for starting daily classes came from a section of the jail inmates. Accordingly, the prison authorities took the initiative and accordingly the work is going on," Biswas told ETV Bharat.
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The Superintendent of Presidency Reformatory Home, Debasish Chakraborty told ETV Bharat that the initiative will be implemented jointly with Indira Gandhi Open University. "Out of the six teachers selected for the purpose three are inmates of the same prison. "They were teachers by profession once. Mainly this initiative is aimed at reforming the inmates who are also drug addicts. But other inmates, if they wish, can attend the classes," he said.
He also said for some reason or the other these inmates were first arrested by police and then after the court verdicts they are serving their terms.
"But some are still in dilemma whether or not to join the classes. The classes will start every morning from 8.45 am and continue till 10.45 am. The motto of the class is that inmates should focus on pages in a book and forget bad vices," Chakraborty said.
ETV Bharat also contacted retired IPS officer and former additional director general (prisons), BD Sharma, who is still considered as the father of jail reforms in West Bengal. "This is really an excellent initiative. The motto of a reformatory home is to reform the inmates. What could have been better if the reforms came through education. This initiative should be mooted by all the prison authorities in the state," he said.
